Stephen Curry golf event fallout: PGA Tour squanders great chance

All along, this seemed almost too good to be true for the PGA Tour and Bay Area fans.

Warriors guard Stephen Curry, noted golf nut, attaching his name and star power to a new tournament at Lake Merced? Curry recruiting top players, roaming the grounds, presenting the trophy?

Then, in the end, it really was too good to be true.

Tuesday’s news of the tour abandoning plans for the September event counted as a big surprise. Octagon, the sports-management company set to run the event, had all but hired a tournament director. And as recently as late last week, officials were planning a formal announcement that the deal was done.

They targeted Thursday and weighed whether to hold a news conference at Lake Merced or the Pleasanton headquarters of Workday, the anticipated title sponsor. Curry was expected to attend.

Not so fast.

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what went wrong. PGA Tour officials insisted the biggest factor was a compressed timeline, with the event only eight-plus months away. Sources told The Chronicle something went amiss in final negotiations with Workday, which had been talking to tour officials for several months.

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry watches his bunker shoton the 14th hole during the first round of the 2017 Ellie Mae Classic golf tournament at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward.

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry watches his bunker shoton the 14th hole during the first round of the 2017 Ellie Mae Classic golf tournament at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward.

Worth noting here: Workday, a finance and human-resources software company, already had a strong relationship with the tour and a sizable footprint in golf.

On Dec. 3, the company agreed to become presenting sponsor of the event near Palm Springs now known as the Desert Classic (previously the CareerBuilder Challenge). Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar are among the high-profile players who have endorsement deals with Workday.

So this sudden cancellation seems to fall more on tour officials than a capable sponsor.

This much is clear: The PGA Tour whiffed on a rare, spectacular opportunity. Curry, 30, is at the peak of his powers, a two-time NBA MVP fresh off leading the Warriors to three championships in the past four seasons. He’s one of the world’s most popular athletes.

And, let’s face it, golf needs to align itself with an athlete of Curry’s stature. This remains a niche sport, unless Tiger Woods resumes regularly winning (a longshot, at best). Curry hosting a PGA Tour event would have resonated with young fans, with basketball fans and in markets such as China, which golf hopes to tap into in the years ahead.

Now the soonest this will take place is probably September 2021, more than 2½ years away. The tour will be reluctant to schedule another Bay Area tournament next year, with Harding Park hosting the PGA Championship in May 2020.

Plus, Lake Merced and Octagon — which together agreed to cover more than $3.6 million in improvements to make the course tour-ready — are unlikely to invest that type of money for a one-year commitment. Curry ideally wants to hold his event at a public course, to fit his mission of introducing kids to the game, and Harding Park becomes available in ’21.

That should be plenty of time to make it happen.

Lucy Li furor: Lucy Li might end up turning pro sooner than she once planned.

Li, the 16-year-old from Redwood City who stands ninth in the world amateur ranking, recently appeared in a video on apple.com promoting the Apple Watch. This naturally caught the attention of USGA officials, guardians of the game in the U.S.

Li’s family told Golf Digest she didn’t receive any compensation for the appearance. That helps her case, obviously, but it doesn’t preclude the USGA from potentially stripping Li of her amateur status and forbidding her to play in amateur events.

Rule 6:2 states, in part, “Even if no payment or compensation is received, an amateur golfer is deemed to receive a personal benefit by promoting, advertising or selling anything, or allowing his name or likeness to be used by a third party for the promotion, advertisement or sale of anything.”

This seems antiquated, yes, especially in an era when professional athletes can compete in the Olympics. Most ideals of amateur sports have evaporated over the years.

But even if this is an old-school rule, Li and her parents should have checked before she appeared in the video.

USGA officials released a statement saying they had contacted Li’s family to “learn more about her participation in these videos.” They added they were only starting to gather facts and “it’s premature at this point to discuss more.”

City on tap: Registration for this year’s San Francisco City Championship, aka “The City,” is open at sfgolfchampionship.com. The event begins Feb. 16, with qualifying in Open flights, and concludes March 17.